MGIB vs Post-9/11 GI Bill

The election is permanent and irreversible. This prices both against your actual school before you make it.

Switching cannot be undoneRead first

Electing the Post-9/11 GI Bill in place of the Montgomery GI Bill is permanent and irrevocable. You cannot switch back, and you cannot change your mind after the first payment. That is the whole reason to run the numbers first.

Sets your Post-9/11 benefit tier.

Your school

Sets the Post-9/11 housing allowance. MGIB pays the same everywhere.

Fill in your service and school, then press Compare Both Programs.

Two different shapes of benefit

  • Post-9/11 pays tuition to the school, plus a housing allowance and a books stipend to you. All three scale with your benefit tier, and the housing allowance depends on where the campus is.
  • MGIB pays you one flat monthly amount, wherever you study and whatever it costs. You pay the tuition bill out of it.

Post-9/11 wins in most cases, often by a wide margin. The exception is a genuinely cheap school in a low-BAH area — where Post-9/11’s tuition payment is small because the school charges little, and its housing allowance is small because the area is inexpensive.

Estimates only, at the rates for the 2026–27 rate year. Both programs have rules this cannot capture — MGIB’s 10-year use-by date, Post-9/11 transferability, the $1,200 refund on switching after exhausting MGIB, and the treatment of active duty status. The election is irrevocable, so confirm with a VA education representative or your School Certifying Official before filing VA Form 22-1990.